Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died; child stands in for Groundhog Day
Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died; child stands in for Groundhog Day
The Quebec rodent whose job it was to predict whether spring would arrive early, Fred la Marmotte, died the day before Groundhog Day.
"This year, it's true. It's sadly true," said la Jour de Marmotte committee organizer Roberto Blondin on the event's livestream. "I'm announcing the death of Fred."
Blondin said that the nine-year-old groundhog did not wake up when organizers went to check on him last night.
The event continued in Val d'Espoir, Que., near Perce in the Gaspe peninsula, however, with a child chosen to stand in for Fred and give the annual prediction.
Blondin pulled a stuffed marmot from Fred's log cabin and handed it to a child who decided whether spring would be coming early.
"Spring is delayed," the child announced.
Blondin said next year Fred Junior would return.
CONFLICTING GROUNDHOG FORECASTS
Other weather-predicting groundhogs made the same prediction as the child holding the stuffy in Quebec, but not all of them.
It's that time of the year again, where check in with some rodents and in some cases, other creatures for their take on the weather. According to Fred la Marmotte and Shubenacadie Sam - we're in for six more weeks of winter! #GroundhogDay2023pic.twitter.com/P1RH9rwgzd
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office has announced that after nearly 24 hours of Liberal attempts to block it from happening, Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford will testify about foreign interference.
A 15-year-old is facing a number of charges, including attempted murder, after two staff members were stabbed at a high school in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.
A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by her 6-year-old student said it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just released a new report and its alarming conclusions are a must-read for anyone who cares about what kind of planet we’re going to leave to our kids, writes former NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
Razak Iyal was given a warm embrace as he officially became a Canadian citizen, more than six years after nearly freezing to death walking across the Canada-United States border in Manitoba.
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day and to mark the occasion a Canadian organization launched a campaign showcasing older people living with the condition.
A 15-year-old is facing a number of charges, including attempted murder, after two staff members were stabbed at a high school in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.
The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) is weighing in after two staff members and a student, who is also the suspect, were injured in a stabbing at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.
New Brunswick's finance minister is scheduled to table a provincial budget Tuesday as the government grapples with problems in health care and housing and the effects of a population surge.
About 10 people have been displaced and damage is estimated at $1-million after a fire in Aylmer on Monday. John Street in Aylmer, Ont. has reopened in both directions following a fire on Monday night.
An 81-year old property owner tells CTV News he’ll do the work himself without machinery, if that’s the method directed by city council. Three years after John McLeod demolished the historic barn on Halls Mill Road without a permit, a plan to remove the pile of wooden debris is taking shape.
The Old South Community Organization (OSCO) is expressing concern about city staff’s failure to consult with stakeholders before recommending that Thames Pool be decommissioned.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
Students and community members will gather in protest outside the Calgary Board of Education Centre Tuesday morning, calling for the removal of the Sir John A. Macdonald name from a northwest junior high school.
A Wheatland County sanctuary that cares for abandoned and surrendered farm animals faces an uncertain future after having a permit application to keep operating denied.
After a large fire spread from tents to a shuttered theatre on the city’s Downtown Eastside, Vancouver’s fire chief told reporters she was “incredibly frustrated” that more isn’t being done to prevent daily fires breaking out in the area.
Vancouver council will soon vote on a policy that could slow development in the Broadway Plan, one of the most significant long-term projects underway in the city.
An Edmonton couple working to support first responders' mental health says the last few days have been very trying for local service members and their families.
A woman who lives across from the apartment where a 16-year-old shot and killed two Edmonton police constables has multiple bullet holes in her door, with a couple piercing her doorframe.
Mixed reviews continue to roll in days after Experience Regina delivered new campaign slogans that lean into the double entendre of the capital city’s name.
Saskatchewan RCMP said themselves and Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan (CTSS) arrested and charged 138 motorists around the province under the criminal code for impaired driving in January and February.
A member of the city of Ottawa's board of health is speaking out about body shaming after receiving a letter that said she shouldn't serve on the board because of her weight.
